单细胞凝胶电泳技术检测碳离子束和X射线照射对Lewis肺癌细胞的DNA损伤

比较研究了 89.63 MeV/u 的碳离子束和 6 MeV 的 X 射线照射 Lewis 肺癌细胞所致的细胞克隆存活和DNA 损伤效应,以探讨单细胞凝胶电泳检测细胞辐射敏感性及重离子束治疗肿瘤的优势.结果表明,在 10%细胞存活水平上碳离子束的相对生物学效应(Relative biological effectiveness,RBE)值达到1.77.单细胞凝胶电泳检测损伤 DNA 尾部百分含量(Tail DNA,TD)和Olive尾矩(Olive tail moment,OTM)的剂量效应曲线表明,X射线的剂量效应曲线为线性,而碳离子束诱导出-个包含线性和指数项的双阶段效应曲线.碳离子束辐照剂量大于8 Gy后TD和OTM都存在饱和效应.在2 Cy的剂量点,高传能线密度(LET)碳离子束比X射线产生更低的存活分数和更高的初始 OTM.本研究提示:在Lewis肺癌细胞中,碳离子束照射比x射线产生更为强烈的细胞致死和DNA损伤效应,可使肿瘤治疗具有更高效率.     

Radiosensitivity of hepatoma cell lines and human normal liver cell lines exposed in vitro to carbon ions and argon ions at the HIRFL

Human hepatoma (SMMC-7721) and normal liver (L02) cells were irradiated with γ-rays, ¹²C⁶⁺ and ³⁶Ar¹⁸⁺ ion beams at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). By using the Calyculin-A induced premature chromosome condensation technique, chromatid-type breaks and isochromatid-type breaks were scored separately. Tumor cells irradiated with heavy ions produced a majority of isochromatid break, while chromatid breaks were dominant when cells were exposed to γ-rays. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for irradiation-induced chromatid breaks were 3.6 for L02 and 3.5 for SMMC-7721 cell lines at the LET peak of 96 keVμm⁻¹¹²C⁶⁺ ions, and 2.9 for both of the two cell lines of 512 keVμm⁻¹³⁶Ar¹⁸⁺ ions. It suggested that the RBE of isochromatid-type breaks was pretty high when high-LET radiations were induced. Thus we concluded that the high production of isochromatid-type breaks, induced by the densely ionizing track structure, could be regarded as a signature of high-LET radiation exposure.     

Micronuclei induction in human lymphocytes induced by carbon ions exposion along the penetrate depth of ions in water

Here we used cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay to measure the biological response along the penetrate depth of ions in water in human lymphocytes exposed to 100 MeV/u incident carbon ions in vitro. Polyethylene shielding was used to change the penetration depth of ions in water. A quantitative biological response curve was generated for micronuclei induction. The results showed a marked increase with the penetrate depth of ions in water in the micronuclei formation, which was consistent with a linear-energy-transfer dependent increase in biological effectiveness. The dose-response relationship for MN information was different at different penetrate depth of ions in water, at the 6 and 11.2 mm penetrate depth of ions in water, the dose-response relationships for the micronucleus frequencies induced by carbon ions irradiation were linear; while it was power function at 17.1 mm penetrate depth.     

Applications of parametric X-rays for X-ray diffraction analysis

Until now parametric X-rays (PXR) have not had practical applications because of the lack of a modern compact accelerator providing the required beam current and consequently high X-ray photon flux. PXR sources even with the intensities achievable at present may be applied to a number of X-ray reflectometry and diffractometry measurements which are important for the characterization of crystals and multi-layer nanostructures. In the paper we present some proposals for possible PXR applications for a number of X-ray measurements based on the smooth energy tuning, high monochromaticity and directed emission of this radiation. The theoretical background and numerical evaluations for PXR applications for determining ingredient concentration in a solid solution in the range of anomalous dispersion of the defect atoms, determination of the phase structure of a crystal, and selective PXR action in organic compounds, important for medical and biological research, are considered.     

Swift ions in radiotherapy - Treatment planning with TRiP98

Since 1997 GSI operates a pilot project to treat tumours in the head and neck region with scanned beams of swift carbon ions. In order to exploit the unique physical and radiobiological properties of ion radiation, a dedicated treatment planning system (TPS) is mandatory. For this purpose the TRiP98 code package has been developed for well over a decade, in order to calculate and optimize absorbed as well as biological dose distributions for scanned ion beams. In collaboration with the DKFZ Heidelberg, the Radiological University Hospital Heidelberg and the FZ Rossendorf more than 400 patients have been planned and treated so far. This article will summarize the current capabilities of the TRiP98 TPS as well as future challenges and developments.     

A track structure model of optically stimulated luminescence from Al2O3:C irradiated with 10-60 MeV protons

We investigated the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signal from Al₂O₃:C irradiated with 10-60 MeV protons to estimate the potential use of this material as a proton dosimeter. After irradiation, OSL decay curves were read out and we used both the initial part and the total area of these curves as response signal. A precondition for optimal proton dosimetry is an LET-independent response and the experimental data showed such an independence at 0.3 Gy for the initial OSL signal.To understand the experimental results, we applied target and track structure theory. Here, the OSL signal is considered to be a result of target activation and the OSL proton signal is calculated from the OSL gamma signal and a radial dose distribution around the proton track. Although several simplifications were made to ease calculations, the classic track structure theory can qualitatively account for all the main features of the experimental data. We estimate a target radius to be between 30 and 150 nm and associate this radius with a charge migration distance in the crystal.The model calculations suggest that the dose and LET-dependency of the OSL signal is a result of an unique mixture of one- and two-hit targets. This implies that the initial OSL signal from Al₂O₃:C in general is not LET-independent at 0.3 Gy or lower doses. However, a mixture of the initial and total OSL signal could provide an LET-independent response in a given LET and dose interval.     

Comparative study of depth-dose distributions for beams of light and heavy nuclei in tissue-like media

We study the energy deposition by beams of light and heavy nuclei in tissue-like media for their possible application in charged-particle cancer therapy. The depth-dose distributions for protons, ³He, ¹²C, ²⁰Ne and ⁵⁸Ni nuclei are calculated within a Monte Carlo model based on the GEANT4 toolkit. These distributions are compared with each other and with available experimental data. It is demonstrated that nuclear fragmentation reactions essentially reduce the peak-to-plateau ratio of the dose profiles for deeply penetrating energetic ions heavier than ³He. On the other hand, the shapes of depth-dose profiles for all projectiles up to ⁵⁸Ni were found similar at low penetration depths.     

Effect of p53 on lung carcinoma cells irradiated by carbon ions or X-rays

The study is to investigate the feasibility and advantages of heavy ion beams on radiotherapy. The cellular cycle and apoptosis, cell reproductive death and p53 expression evaluated with flow cytometry, clonogenic survival assays and Western blot analysis were examined in lung carcinoma cells after exposure to 89.63 MeV/u carbon ion and 6 MV X-ray irradiations, respectively. The results showed that the number colonyforming assay of A549 was higher than that of H1299 cells in two radiation groups; A549 cellular cycle was arrested in G2/M in 12 h and the per-centage of apoptosis ascended at each time point of carbon ion radiation with doses, the expression of p53 upregulated with doses exposed to X-ray or carbon ion. The cell number in G2/M of H1299 and apoptosis were increasing at all time points with doses in 12C6+ ion irradiation group. The results suggested that the effects of carbon ions or X rays ir-radiation on lung carcinoma cells were different, 12C6+ ion irradiation could have more effect on upregulating the ex-pression of p53 than X-ray, and the upregulated expression of p53 might produce the cellular cycle G2/M arrested, apoptosis increasing; and p53 gene might affect the lung cancer cells radiosensitivity.     

Calculations of specific cellular doses for low-energy electrons

The objectives of this work were to calculate the cellular doses and the lineal energies of low-energy electrons in liquid water for different source-target geometry in a cell. Calculated specific cellular doses and their variations were analyzed for the dependences on electron energy, source-target geometry, elastic interaction, and type of energy depositions, i.e. starter, stopper, insider and crosser. Two approaches, i.e. the probabilistic method and the mixed method, were applied. In the probabilistic method, the Monte Carlo Penelope code was used. In the mixed method, the range-energy relation and the sampling of electron paths were applied. It was found that for N ← Cy elastic interactions led to a change of the specific cellular dose by about 30% for electron energies below 10 keV. Here N ← Cy denotes electrons emitted from the source region, Cy (cytoplasm), to deposit energy in the target region, N (cell nucleus). The variation of specific cellular dose was found greater (more than 10%) for N ← Cy than N ← N, C ← C and C ← CS, where C and CS denote the cell and cell surface, respectively. The lineal energy distribution varied substantially with electron energy, source-target geometry, and target size. The maximum values of the relative dose-mean lineal energy for 1, 5 and 10 keV electrons, relative to 36 keV reference electrons used to define the relative biological effectiveness, occurred at target radii of several tens, hundreds and thousands nanometers, respectively.     

Role of trace elements in somatic embryogenesis - A PIXE study

Proton induced X-ray emission was used to study the trace elemental profiles of embryogenic and non-embryogenic callus of an important cash crop of India - Plantago ovata. Somatic embryogenesis, a well-known process for plant regeneration and crop improvement is modulated by various factors such as ionizing radiation and micro nutrients in the growth media. The present work reports the trace element variation in normal and irradiated callus tissue of P. ovata. Embryogenic and non-embryogenic callus tissues were exposed to gamma rays from a ⁶⁰Co gamma source. The absorbed dose ranged from 10 to 100 Gy. Subsequent experiments showed significant dose dependent alterations in K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br, Sr in both the embryogenic and non-embryogenic callus. The precise involvement of these elements has been discussed in light of somatic embryogenesis of the selected medicinal plant.     

Shielding data for 100-250 MeV proton accelerators: Double differential neutron distributions and attenuation in concrete

Double differential distributions of neutrons produced by 100, 150, 200 and 250 MeV protons stopped in a thick iron target were simulated with the FLUKA Monte Carlo code at four emission angles: forward, 45°, transverse and 135° backwards. The attenuation in ordinary concrete of the dose equivalent due to secondary neutrons, protons, photons and electrons was calculated. Some of the resulting attenuation curves are best fitted by a double-exponential function rather than a single-exponential. The effect of various approximations introduced in the simulations is thoroughly discussed. The contribution to the total ambient dose equivalent from photons and protons is usually limited to a few percent, except in the backward direction where photons contribute more than 10% and up to 35% to the total dose for a shield thickness of 1-2 m. Source terms and attenuation lengths are given as a function of energy and emission angle, along with fit to the Monte Carlo data. An extensive comparison is made of values obtained in the present work with published experimental and computational data.     

Shielding data for 100-250 MeV proton accelerators: Attenuation of secondary radiation in thick iron and concrete/iron shields

Double differential distributions of neutrons produced by 100, 150, 200 and 250 MeV protons stopped in a thick iron target were calculated with the FLUKA Monte Carlo code at four emission angles: forward, 45°, transverse and 135° backwards. The attenuation in thick iron shields of the dose equivalent due to neutrons, protons, photons and electrons was also calculated. The contribution to the total ambient dose equivalent from photons and protons is limited to a few percent at maximum. Source terms and attenuation lengths are given as a function of energy and emission angle, along with fits to the Monte Carlo data, for shallow depth and deep penetration in the shield. A brief discussion of simulations performed with composite iron/concrete shields is also given, showing the need for further investigations.     

Cell irradiation setup and dosimetry for radiobiological studies at ELBE

The radiation source ELBE delivers different types of secondary radiation, which is used for cell irradiation studies in radiobiological research. Thereby an important issue is the determination of the biological effectiveness of photon radiation as a function of photon energy by using low-energetic, monochromatic channeling radiation (10-100 keV) and high-energetic bremsstrahlung (up to 40 MV). Radiobiological studies at the research facility ELBE demand special technical and dosimetric prerequisites. Therefore, a cell irradiation system (CIS) has been designed, constructed and installed at the beam line. The CIS allows automatic irradiation of a larger cell sample number and the compensation of spatial inhomogeneity of the dose distribution within the beam spot. The recently introduced GafChromic^® EBT radiochromic film model has been used to verify the cell irradiation dose deposition achieving a dose uncertainty of <5%. Both, the installed cell irradiation system and the developed dosimetric procedure based on the use of the EBT film have been experimentally tested at ELBE. The biological effectiveness of 34 MV bremsstrahlung with respect to 200 kV X-rays from a conventional X-ray tube has been determined. An RBE value of 0.75 has been measured in good agreement with literature.     

Photoluminescence study of Ge nanocrystals irradiated by reactor neutron flux

Samples of Ge nanocrystals (Ge-ncs) embedded in amorphous SiO₂ film were prepared by Ge ion implantation and subsequent primary thermal annealing. These samples were irradiated by neutron flux in a nuclear reactor followed by the second annealing. Irradiation with thermal neutrons leads to doping of nanocrystals with Ga, As and Se impurities due to nuclear transmutation of isotope ⁷⁰Ge into ⁷¹Ga, isotope ⁷⁴Ge into ⁷⁵As, isotope ⁷⁶Ge into ⁷⁷Se, respectively (neutron transmutation doping, NTD). Irradiation with fast neutrons leads to appearance of radiation damages, which are expected to be removed after the second annealing. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements show that PL is quenched after neutron irradiation, and restored after annealing higher than 500 °C. The PL spectra of doped Ge-ncs samples show more intense exciton radiative luminescence than of undoped Ge-ncs sample, which is related to that the donor and acceptor impurities recombine the nonradiative centers in the interface of Ge-ncs and SiO₂ matrix, and enhance the probability of exciton recombination.     

Existence states of deuterium irradiated into LiAlO2

The existence states of deuterium in LiAlO₂ were analyzed by in situ IR absorption spectroscopy during irradiation with 3 keV at room temperature. Multiple IR absorption peaks that were related to O-D stretching vibrations were observed, mainly at 2650 cm⁻¹ (O-D_α), 2600 cm⁻¹ (O-D_β), and 2500 cm⁻¹ (O-D_γ). The O-D_α was assigned to the surface O-D. The O-D_β and O-D_γ were interpreted as two distinct O-D states for three candidates: O-D of substitutional D⁺ for Li⁺; O-D of substitutional D⁺ for Al³⁺; and O-D of interstitial D⁺. O-D_β was the dominant O-D state for deuterium irradiated into LiAlO₂, and had higher stability than O-D_γ. Heating after ion irradiation led to the desorption of D₂ and an increase in the intensity of O-D_β, which implies that some of the deuterium irradiated into LiAlO₂ exists in non-O-D states, such as D⁻ captured by F centers.     

Using microdispensing to manufacture a customized cell dish for microbeam irradiation of single, living cells

In this paper is described the preparation of patterned cell dishes to be used in studies of low dose irradiation effects on living cells. Using a droplet microdispenser, an 8 μm thick polypropylene cell substrate, to which cells do not naturally adhere, was coated in a matrix pattern with the cell adhesive mussel protein Cell-Tak. Cells were shown to adhere and grow on the protein-coated spots, but not on the uncoated parts, providing for guided cell growth. Cultivation of isolated cell colonies provides an opportunity to study how low doses of ionizing radiation affect neighbouring un-irradiated cell colonies.     

Microstructure evolution and degradation mechanisms of reactor internal steel irradiated with heavy ions

Structure evolution and degradation mechanisms during irradiation of 18Cr-10Ni-Ti steel (material of VVER-1000 reactor internals are investigated). Using accelerator irradiations with Cr³⁺ and Ar⁺ ions allowed studying effects of dose rate, different initial structure state and implanted ions on features of structure evolution and main mechanisms of degradation including low temperature swelling and embrittlement of the 18Cr-10Ni-Ti steel. It is shown that differences in dose rate at most irradiation temperatures mainly exert their influence on the duration of the swelling transient regime. Calculations of possible transmutation products during irradiation of this steel in a VVER-1000 spectrum were performed. It is shown that gaseous atoms (He and H), which are generated simultaneously with radiation defects, stabilize the elements of radiation microstructure and influence the swelling. The nature of deformation under different temperatures of irradiation and of mechanical testing is investigated. It is shown that the temperature sensitivity of swelling behaviour in the investigated steel, with different initial structures can be connected with the dynamic behaviour of point defect sinks.     

Synthesis of nanodimensional TiO2 thin films using energetic ion beam

Nanophases of TiO₂ are achieved by irradiating polycrystalline thin films of TiO₂ by 100 MeV Au ion beam at varying fluence. The surface morphology of pristine and irradiated films is studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Phase of the film before and after irradiation is identified by glancing angle X-ray diffraction (GAXRD). The blue shift observed in UV-vis absorption edge of the irradiated films indicates nanostructure formation. Electron spin resonance (ESR) studies are carried out to identify defects created by the irradiation. The nanocrystallisation induced by SHI irradiation in polycrystalline thin films is studied.     

Calculated depth-dose distributions for H and He beams in liquid water

We have calculated the dose distribution delivered by proton and helium beams in liquid water as a function of the target-depth, for incident energies in the range 0.5-10 MeV/u. The motion of the projectiles through the stopping medium is simulated by a code that combines Monte Carlo and a finite differences algorithm to consider the electronic stopping power, evaluated in the dielectric framework, and the multiple nuclear scattering with the target nuclei. Changes in projectile charge-state are taken into account dynamically as it moves through the target. We use the MELF-GOS model to describe the energy loss function of liquid water, obtaining a value of 79.4 eV for its mean excitation energy. Our calculated stopping powers and depth-dose distributions are compared with those obtained using other methods to describe the energy loss function of liquid water, such as the extended Drude and the Penn models, as well as with the prediction of the SRIM code and the tables of ICRU.